Chapter 853 - Indeed
Hades watched Isis attacking a part of the vortex with her Plasma Arrows in amazement as the mana on them caused explosions inside the place and slowly began to wound her. Despite that, Isis didn't stop, and much to his annoyance, the explosions inside the vortex made it lose speed.
"What a troublesome woman…" Hades said and then sighed.
Logic says that mages aren't good at taking damage. To some extent, that also applies to elder gods. Still, despite that, Isis kept attacking the vortex until she caused so much damage to it that it began to lose its stability. Eventually, it became so unstable that it was destroyed alongside all spirits inside it thanks to explosions caused by Plasma Arrows. Hades sighed because the other battlefield already had more than half of both combatants, so he won't be able to use the same spell.
Regardless, in a certain way, the spell did its job. Isis escaped, but she was bleeding, and she was also exhausted since the damage took a good part of her stamina. Suddenly, Isis used her spiritual royal guard. While Hades was protecting himself from their attacks, she began to heal herself. Hades teleported and attacked her from the front. Still, Isis had anticipated that and fired toward him a massive burst of wind and pollen. That made her gain some distance over him, as well as make him unable to move for a short while.
Using all the mana she gained recently, Isis raised her hand, and then a massive pillar of the plasma fell from the sky and hit Hades. Even though he reacted fast enough to use his sword to block some of the damage, he felt that. It only lasted for a couple of seconds, but his dark armor suffered some damage, and even his body got burned in some parts.
"Are you done now?" Hades asked after he realized that Isis used all her remaining mana.
"Almost," Isis replied.
Hades noticed that her royal guard was attacking him again, and he couldn't tell the point since their attacks didn't have any divinity. All the damage caused by them would be minimal. Still, then he noticed that a vast amount of energy was coming from the other battlefield… no, it was beyond that. Hades didn't like that. It seemed that Isis could also use the environment in her favor, and since she was a master using magic, her effectiveness would be much higher.
Hades swung his sword and cut the air, but Isis was the one who got cut in the end. A part of her neck suddenly disappeared, but she kept concentrating and ignored the pain. Unfortunately, Hades swung his sword and made disappear several parts of her body. He even teleported and pierced her heart with his sword at the last moment, but he didn't in time. He finally saw what seemed to be a spiritual floating river approaching Isis and restoring her body completely. Even her mana was recovered and was increasing beyond her limits… Hades had heard that when she wishes for it, Isis can draw power from the Nile. The largest river that gives life to a massive part of Egypt, but he didn't imagine it would be that much. With that in mind, the other Olympian gods imagined hades would have better chances in defeating Isis since he also could borrow a lot of power from external forces such as spirits of the dead, and since a massive battlefield had taken place, Hades indeed almost killed Isis.
Hades sighed… his allies really should have worked harder to convince her to join their side. Even if she wasn't Greek, she would be a powerful ally that would manage to wipe their enemies easily under the right circumstances. In the end, Hades summoned his cursed spirits to the tip of his sword because Isis was preparing another big attack. Just as he had predicted, another massive plasma pillar fell from the sky and hit him. Despite using his spirits as a shield, Hades was pushed back to the ground, and once again, the entire desert began to tremble. Even Femradiel, who was almost fifty kilometers away, felt that an attack that probably could destroy a small country had been used.
When Femradiel used Clairvoyance, she only saw Hades been melted by a massive pillar of condensed energy. Still, despite that, she felt that something was off. He was supposed to be feeling excruciating pain. Still, he never let go of his sword, and his sword didn't suffer any damage either.
Isis furrowed her eyebrows when she saw Hades' true form. When his body was destroyed, he assumed his spiritual form, and he still could even hold his sword. Most elder gods could fight in that form. Some were even stronger in it. That was why Isis was planning to seal Hades, but she didn't imagine that he wouldn't pass out while his entire body was being destroyed.
"You seem exasperated, Isis," Hades said.
"Annoying is more appropriate," Isis said. "Regardless, it doesn't matter."
"Indeed… it really doesn't matter," Hades nodded and smiled.
Hades' army had been destroyed when he tried to protect himself, so he didn't have any reason to feel that confident. However, once again, Isis was reminded of what type of god he was… little by little, once again, the spirits of the other battlefield flew toward him, and this time, Hades absorbed them. When that happened, his spiritual body increased in size, and his presence also grew more powerful. Isis couldn't help but sigh… he was really troublesome.
"You take power from the river that has been helping your people for thousands of years, and I receive power from the spirits of the dead…" Hades said. "Shall we see which source of power is the greatest?"
"But of course," Isis said.
There was only a problem. Isis couldn't receive power from the Nile whenever she wishes for it. To receive that massive amount of energy, she had to wait for a full day... Isis couldn't help but wonder. Maybe she should have asked about Athena's plan to defeat Hades.